


Watch It Cast a Shadow

by LandofWordsandNonsense (RiaHawk)



Series: Details [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Beau and Yasha (Mentioned), Caleb hears a name he absolutely did not want to hear, Ep 18 Spoilers, Gen, Mention of torture, Panic Attack, caleb is Not Okay, caleb's backstory, maintaining composure in extreme circumstances
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-11
Updated: 2018-09-11
Packaged: 2019-07-10 23:27:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15959828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiaHawk/pseuds/LandofWordsandNonsense
Summary: He sat there, frozen and invisible in plain sight. This was no longer about getting into the library.Now they were in the dragon's shadow.





	Watch It Cast a Shadow

**Author's Note:**

> I may be slightly obsessed with the Caleb Lore Dump.

It was really a frankly terrible idea to send Beau and Yasha over to talk to the two wizards from the Halls of Erudition, but Beau had already pulled Yasha in that direction before they could discuss a better plan... and perhaps it would work out.

 

Not that Caleb was going to let them do this unsupervised, gods no. He'd found a place to the sit near the door, where it would just look like he was tired from the party, sent Frumpkin winding through the crowd to shadow them, and went blind.

 

Admittedly, Beau had done a better job of shoving her way into the conversation the two wizards had been having than he would have given her credit for. Frumpkin brushed against her ankle briefly, just enough to make her aware that he- and by extension Caleb- was unobtrusively listening to their conversation.

 

He was interested in this Ormid Haas, the one evidently in charge of the Halls of Erudition. Caleb wanted so badly to get into that particular library... the other one wouldn't be so difficult, he thought, maybe Beau could get him in, but the Halls of Erudition would be... an endeavor.

 

There was something about the other man's voice that bothered him but he dismissed it for now, focusing on Haas, already trying to work out a way to con his way into the wizard's good graces.

 

"-my colleague, Trent Ikithon."

 

All the sudden, there was a roar in Caleb's ears that drowned out everything else that was being said at the moment.

 

No.

 

Trent Ikithon.

 

No. No  _ no NO _ .

 

He couldn't breathe.

 

_ Trent Ikithon _ . Why. Why here. Why  _ now _ . How long had he _ been _ here, how much had he  _ seen _ , had he  _ recognized _ -

 

Caleb was bitterly glad for the lessons he'd learned in the past now. ‘ _ Emotions are a weakness you cannot afford, and your foes will take advantage of it. You must show nothing.’ _ It was a lesson that had been taught with blades and beatings, and reinforced with hot irons and icy water. It was a lesson that had left more damage than just scars and it was what saved him now.

 

His heart was pounding so hard he genuinely feared it would burst and he was on the verge of hyperventilating, but he didn't show it. He didn't so much as twitch, his expression didn't flutter. He just sat there, frozen and invisible in plain sight.

 

He forced the panic down, forced himself to listen to the conversation because this wasn't about getting into the library anymore, now he had to know as much as he could because now they were in the dragon’s shadow, and Trent was talking to Yasha with far too much interest. One part of Caleb wanted to have Frumpkin sink his claws into Yasha or Beau's leg, to tell them to stop talking to him, to get away right  _ now _ . Another part wanted to unleash the flames that Trent had praised so often because he was looking at Yasha in a way Caleb knew all too well, that proprietary interest that he now knew had nothing to do with the conflict in Xhorhas and everything to do with power and  _ he could not have her _ . And a third part wanted to just flee, to vanish before Trent's gaze could fasten on him.

 

He was good at compartmentalizing things, maybe too good, and that was why he was able to maintain his concentration and track the conversation, while another part of his mind tried not to shake itself to pieces.

 

It had been incredibly stupid for Yasha to admit where she was from and how long she'd been here, but there was a part of him that was so  _ relieved _ that she hadn't lied, because Trent could see through lies, he'd always been able to see through lies, and Caleb still remembered what the penalty for lying was.

 

They were in public. Being in public was terrifying but now it was safety, because Trent couldn't do much in public. He could still do some things, and Caleb couldn’t be sure if Trent was casting something here and now. It was a moot point because even if he was there wasn't anything Caleb could do about it, not without revealing himself. But he and Haas were leaving now and Beau and Yasha still looked like themselves and that was the best that could be hoped for.

 

He could do this. He could handle this. He was fine. He was safe, he had the amulet.

 

Trent passed within five feet of him.


End file.
